News from Greece

In Greece, an individual who has moved abroad must file an application to the local authorities in order to demonstrate a new address should they wish to change their status from resident to non-tax resident. Such an application is typically filed by March 10th of the year following the year during which the individual changed the residence and it is...

Following the decision of the Greek court, it is now possible for spouses to submit separate individual annual tax returns depending on their tax residency. This decision comes as a solution to the problem of married couples who live separately due to various reasons, such as when one of them lives abroad due to professional engagements. Until now, it was...

The Greek legislation regulates short-term rentals of real estate property within the so-called framework of “sharing economy” (through digital platforms like Airbnb) in the article 111 of Law 4446/2016, as amended and in force. Important definitions A sharing economy is considered to be any model where digital platforms create an open market for the temporary use of goods or services...

A new ransomware has risen and is spreading across Europe like wild fire. This new malware is creating chaos across businesses, from supermarkets to shipping ports, ad agencies and law firms. The new ransomware - code named “NotPateya” - shares some very similar characteristics to a very recent malware “Wannacry”. About NotPateya NotPateya gets its name from an older malware...

The Greek Parliament adopted Law 4472 /2017 (Government Gazette 74/19.5.2017) titled “Public Pension provisions and amendment of Law 4387/2016, application measures of budgetary targets and reforms, social support measures and labour regulations. Mid-term Financial Strategy Framework 2018-2021 and other provisions”, which sets out certain provisions required for the commencement of the debate regarding the medium-term measures necessary for the viability...

Persons interested in obtaining a residence permit in Greece can choose one of many available methods of doing so. Below we attempt to provide a brief overview of three of these methods as well as to summarize the procedures applicable in each case. The first option of obtaining a Greek residence permit is available to financially independent persons who fulfill...

House prices in Greece have been dropping for the last seven years, albeit now at a slower pace. This raises the question of whether it is worth investing in Greek real estate, at this time. Athens is an attractive market right now; one can buy apartments in Athens for as little as EUR 19,000-33,000, renovate them for EUR 5,000 and...

As of 2017, United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Companies will enjoy the same tax exemptions previously only applied to EU companies. EU Companies were exempted from tax obligations under the condition that the ultimate individual beneficiary is a holder of a Greek tax ID. This provision was put in place in order to avoid the tax evasion by Greek tax residents...

Greece/December 2015 Following discussions with its creditors and the agreement with the European Stability Mechanism, Greece has agreed to introduce a significant reform in its tax regime in order to meet the targets assigned. By virtue of the Laws 4334/2015 and 4336/2015, several tax aspects have undergone amendments. Specifically, these changes include: •An increase in the corporate income tax rate...

Greece/October 2015 The European Central Bank’s decision not to increase the amount of emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks on 28 June 2015 forced the Greek government to impose emergency capital controls. Greece reacted by shutting down its banking system and announcing a bank holiday which started on Monday 29 June 2015, as well as closing the Athens Stock Exchange...

Greece/September 2015 By virtue of the Laws 4334/2015 and 4336/2015 adopted as part of Greece’s bailout program agreed with its creditors significant tax reform measures were taken. Some of the main tax measures read as following: •Corporate income tax rate increased from 26% to 29%; •Prepayment of the corporate tax is increased to 100% of the tax amount due for...

Greece/August 2015 Following the mutual agreement between the Eurozone and Greece for opening the negotiations in regards to a possible future agreement on a new ESM programme, on 16th of July the Greek government adopted the bill 4334/2015. The law includes the first set of economic measures requested from the Institutions as part of rebuilding trust. The financial measures resulted...

Greece/August 2015 This year will mark the start of taxation of benefits in kind in special cases. All income tax declarations this year will include benefits in kind that are taxable according to the new framework. Benefits in kind received by an employee or an employee’s family member will be included in the taxable income at market value in cases...

Greece/July 2015 From Monday, July 20, 2015, the bank holiday has been cancelled and all bank branches are open for the public. In addition, all banking operations are permitted except those expressly prohibited under the Act. The basic points are the following: •The withdrawal limit remains at 60€ daily or at 420€ on a weekly basis. Exception will be the...

Greece/June 2015 The European Central Bank's Sunday decision not to increase the amount of emergency liquidity to Greek banks forced the Greek government to impose emergency capital controls. The reaction from Greece came with shutting down its banking system, ordering lenders to stay closed for six days starting Monday June 29, 2015 until Monday, July 6, 2015 included. The Athens...

Greece/June 2015 The European Central Bank's Sunday decision not to increase the amount of emergency liquidity to Greek banks forced the Greek government to impose emergency capital controls. The reaction from Greece came with shutting down its banking system, ordering lenders to stay closed for six days starting Monday June 29, 2015 until Monday, July 6, 2015 included. The Athens...

Greece/June 2015 Eurofast Global accomplished in Thursday, 14 May 2015, the inauguration of the new offices in Athens with a great success. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended and also want to give special thanks the other staff who worked hard for making this function a succeeded ceremony, by arranging everything that is needed...

Greece/June 2015 The FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts) was introduced by United States of America in 2011 as a means of collecting information concerning an US citizen, US resident, corporations, partnerships, or limited liability companies created or organized in the United States. The information refers to the cases where an interest in a foreign financial account, including...

Greece/January 2015 A few months ago the European Commission introduced changes to the EU VAT legislation applicable from 1.1.2015 which relate to electronic communications services, electronic broadcasting and electronic services to private consumers. Although these changes were included to Directive 2008/8/EC (Article 5), the European Council did not adopt the necessary legislation until the end of 2013. Furthermore the guidance...

Greece/October 2014 On July 2013 the legislation L.4172/2013 brought the new tax framework in Greece. The new tax bill is clearly a sophisticated conjunction of the prior Greek tax legislative framework and the European directives. This law sets stricter requirements on tax-deductible purchases and supplies of the Greek companies from entities belonging to more favorable tax regimes. The Article 65...

Greece/October 2014 An entirely new gaming class which has developed lately is social gaming, which was born through social networking sites like Facebook. Zynga is the world’s largest game developer on Facebook. Unlike traditional games that require players to own consoles or advanced computers and have a certain level of knowledge about games, social game platforms like Facebook and smart...

Greece/October 2014 Is there a term, global trademark or international? And what is the process needed? First of all, note that the term global trademark does not exist. We are talking about international trademarks. About registering an international trademark, therefore, we need to highlight the following: Applicants (natural or legal person) may: have just filed a request for registration of...

Greece/October 2014 The more attention the Businesses pay to Designs, the more successful they are! The Design is the appearance of the form, patterns and colors. The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) registers more than 80,000 designs per year. The Community Design applies to all states - EU members. The more attention the Businesses pay to Designs,...

Greece/September 2014 It is a good comparison according to the traditional law principles so that the contracting parties of a domain name transaction can understand the industry of information technology and e-commerce. Due to the linguistic character of the domain name, it is of vital importance to take into consideration the trademark law in relation to the domain name transactions....

Greece/September 2014 Α discount of 20% of the property tax on non-electrified empty properties is stipulated by the recent law amendment correcting the calculations of the Single Estate Property Tax (ENFIA). The law amendment was filed on 9 September 2014 in the Parliament. In parallel with the provisions of the amendment are corrected the excessive charges, which had burned 4000...

Greece/September 2014 In case you sign a contract or any other document with another contracting party via e-mail, each party is concerned about the authenticity of the identity of the person that sends the document. Each party is also concerned about the integrity of the document. The document might have been altered from the time it was sent until its...

Greece/August 2014 A non disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal document stating that one party gives his/her consent not to reveal the confidential information that he/she knows about the other party. Usually NDA’s arise from a working relationship between an employer and an employee. An NDA will protect the employer from having his/her employees using confidential information against the business...

Greece/June 2013 A new provision, article 36A in relation to granting of residence permits to non-EU citizens in Greece, has been added to the Law 3386/2005 on “Entrance accommodation and social integration of non-EU citizens in Greece". Under the new provisions of the law, a residence permit will be granted for five years for non-EU citizens upon acquiring a...